Telecommunications operator, 9mobile, on Thursday, issued an apology to its customers in what came as its first response to the service outage that has left millions of its customers in frustration since Saturday, July 27, 2024.
The company in a statement said connectivity has now been restored “to most areas” suggesting that some of its customers are still experiencing the service outage.
The company blamed the disruption on multiple fibre cuts and damages to its infrastructure in some parts of the country. It added that its technical teams are working around the clock to address outstanding issues and restore services to all its customers.
9mobile’s apology
Explaining the cause of the disruption and its efforts to restore full service, the company in its statement said:
“The Management of 9mobile would like to extend its profound apologies to our valued customers for the recent service disruption experienced in parts of the country which is as result of multiple fiber cuts and damages to our network infrastructure in some parts of the country.
“As a business, we understand the frustration and inconvenience that this disruption has caused to connectivity and communication for our customers. We feel your pain and know what the disruption means for you.
“As a business, we do not take your brand loyalty for granted. You have been with us through our darkest hours in business, and our sunshine years are here now. Satisfying you with quality service remains a significant pillar of the brand experience we want you to have with us.”
The company added that it set up a Virtual Situation Room between management and the technical team to enable it to take situation reports from different locations in real-time in a hands-on approach to ensure complete service restoration to our esteemed customers.
Backstory
Nairametrics earlier reported that several customers of 9mobile had been groaning over a prolonged downtime on the network.
According to the subscribers, the network outage that started on Saturday persisted until Wednesday. The situation was worsened by the lack of communication from the telecom company to its customers over the issue.
While the network outage coincided with the implementation of SIM blockage on some lines with unverified National Identification Numbers (NIN) issues by all the mobile network operators, it became clear that 9mobile customers’ issue was different after the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ordered all telecom operators to unblock all lines on Monday.
What you should know
9mobile last weekend announced that a new investor, LH Telecommunication Limited has acquired the struggling mobile network operator to transform it.
The telco, which once had over 20 million active subscriptions had 11.6 million connected lines as of March 2024 as it has suffered consistent loss of customers over the years.
The company as of March accounted for only 5.3% of the market share while MTN, Airtel, and Globacom controlled 37%, 29%, and 28% of the market in that order.
